The Toledo Opera’s Elixir of Love by Gaetano Donizetti will be performed on February 13 and 15 at the Valentine theatre. This production is directed by Ian Silverman and conducted by J Ernest Green, featuring David Walton, Marnie Breckenridge and Jason Budd. Budd, who has appeared with the Toledo Opera numerous times in the past, sat down with The Truth this past week to discuss his career.
What is your background and your experience in opera?
I’m from Hubbard, Ohio, which is just outside of Youngstown, and started my studies at Youngstown State and then actually went to Bowling Green to study with a teacher there. And while I was studying at BG, I became a resident artist with Toledo Opera. After BG, I got a resident artist program in Orlando and kept that as my home for about 10 years and eventually moved back to the Youngstown area. And that’s where I kept my home base and just did regional opera. I got lucky. I got called up to do Falstaff in Brazil…then I started getting gigs with Toledo Opera, and I think I’ve been here close to 10 times, so I kind of consider it my opera home.
What is the role that you’re playing this time around?
I am Dr. Dulcamara. He is basically a snake oil salesman who is not in an evil way at all, but he’s just opportunistic. He sells the love potion that the main tenor wants to try to win the heart of this lady and, turns out, it’s just wine. But subsequent things happen and the couple end up together. And I, of course, put all the responsibility on my elixir and try to sell it as much as I can in the end.
What appeals to you about this specific story? Why do you think it will appeal to your audience?
So I think this is my fourth time doing this role and it really fits well inside my voice. I mainly specialize in what’s called ‘buffo’ roles. They are the comic roles, kind of a character role. It usually calls for a lot of acting… And it’s just a great role… He’s a character that everyone remembers.
As for the show itself, there’s going to be beautiful music that most people who even have never seen an opera will know because a lot of this music from this particular show has been used in commercials. The tenor aria, ‘Una furtiva lagrima,’ in particular people will recognize from pasta commercials and a whole, whole bunch of other things.
The music is very good. It’s quick paced and very funny—especially this production. Our director is really honing in on the funny aspects of the show and funny situations. So it’s honestly, it’s a great show. For anyone who’s never seen an opera, it’s a good first opera.
Is there anything else you think that our readers should know about the show?
For the show, they should know that even though we’re singing in Italian, above the stage, what we call supertitles, will be projected in English. So it’s kind of like subtitles, ‘sub’ meaning bottom, on TV or a foreign film. These are ‘super’, which means above. And so everything is going to be written out for you and you’ll get the general gist.
What’s nice about opera is the same person that composes all the other music for what we sing, they compose the incidental music. So it’s kind of like the first movie score because all of the emotions are represented in the music. It’s just like if you have a spooky movie, you have spooky music underneath and really gives you an idea of what’s going on in the movie. The same happens with opera, especially because the same person wrote it, and it’s one whole through story and it’s quite well thought out.
About Toledo Opera’s The Elixir of Love
February 13 at 7:30 pm & 15 at 2:00 pm
Spend Valentine’s Day weekend immersed in the laughter and romance of Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love. When the shy and smitten Nemorino’s dream of winning the strong-willed Adina’s heart seems out of reach, he turns to a traveling purveyor of patent medicines in search of a love potion. After drinking every last drop, he sets off a cascade of comedic chaos. This heartwarming comedy embodies all the richness of Donizetti’s artistry and is simply too good to keep bottled up. Featuring laugh-out-loud moments and touching romance, this original, heartwarming comedy sparkles with wit and whimsy. Presented for the first time in over a decade, The Elixir of Love comes to life in a new production brought to life by conductor J. Ernest Green (Toledo Opera’s South Pacific, Ragtime, and The Merry Widow).
Starring David Walton (La Cenerentola) as Nemorino, Marnie Breckinridge (Company Debut) as Adina, and Jason Budd (Tosca, Cinderella, and The Merry Widow) as Dr. Dulcamara.
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